


Love in B&W

by lovehugsandcandy



Category: Ride or Die (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2020-03-06 01:59:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18841321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovehugsandcandy/pseuds/lovehugsandcandy
Summary: Colt has to sort through his dad’s stuff and finds something unexpected.





	Love in B&W

“Who carries their social security card? Seriously?”

“Sir.”

“I think I ruined it in the laundry when I was fourteen, for Christ’s-”

“SIR.”

Colt smirked, a quirk of his lips. Almost there. “Do you have  _your_ social security card?”

“Sir…” A sigh as the bank teller started rubbing his eyes. “I’ll go get the manager.”

Colt grinned as the he left the room and sprawled back in the chair, hands in his pockets. It’s not like he had anything else to do; he could be a pain in the ass all day long.

A short wait, only a few minutes, until the manager bustled in. He looked annoyed. Great, well, so was Colt.

“Do you have a passport?” 

Colt pulled it from his pocket, tossing it towards him on the table. A quick scan, a raise of the eyebrows, and yes. Success. “Right this way, Mr. Kaneko.”

Colt had to bite his tongue, stop the automatic ‘ _that’s my dad_ ’ from rolling off his lips. It wasn’t his dad, not anymore, never again. He had to stop that train of thought before the mask slipped. He focused on putting one foot in front of the other, following the manager down a narrow hallway to a back room, empty except for a table and folding chair.

He had to wait a few more minutes until the door opened again, until finally, the teller carting the safe deposit box in.

“Here you go. Let me know when you’re done.”

He took it, placing it on the table with a discreet glance around the room as the employee left. No cameras. Good. He didn’t know what he was going to find, what he was hoping to find, but he was pretty sure he didn’t want anyone seeing what was in here.

Slowly, he opened the latches of safe deposit box and peered in. Two bags, one large and black, one small and white. A ring box. Some papers. Everything that his dad thought important enough to hide here, everything that wasn’t burned in the fire. It was all here, inside a case that looked smaller than a bread box. This was it.

He opened the black bag first and couldn’t help but whistle. “Damn, Pop.” It had to be at least $100K, unmarked bills, wrapped in stacks of at least $10,000 each, varying denominations. Colt wasn’t hard up for cash at the moment but, fuck, it was good to have a slush fund somewhere.

He opened the ring box to see a giant diamond. Shit, that must be worth…Colt couldn’t even begin to guess. Why the hell did his dad have an engagement ring? Was it hot, picked up somewhere? What if it was for someone? His mom, once upon a time? Or a nameless woman he hid from Colt, just like he hid so many other things? He took an even breath, in, out. The hell was he supposed to do with this?

The smaller bag had more jewelry, some keys that Colt would never be able find the matching locks for, odds and ends. Colt put it all back in the bag, reverently. Though it looked like junk to him, if his dad thought it was important, he wasn’t going to trash a single thing.

Under the bag, stacked up, various pieces of paper: title to a car long gone, an expired driver’s licence, Colt’s birth certificate, oh hey! His social security card. Guess it wasn’t destroyed after all.

At the bottom of the pile, stashed under the papers, the  _fuck?_  One picture, a black and white photograph. He picked it up and realized his fingers were shaking. It was from, what, 17 years ago? 18? His dad looked like a different man; the lines weren’t as deep, the expression wasn’t as hard. Hell, he had a ponytail, hair tied off his face, highlighting the angular features, the smile. Fuck, his dad was beaming. He had never seen that look on his dad’s face before.

Colt’s eyes started filling with tears. No, not here.

He sank into the chair, clutching the picture, considering it. Apparently, Colt  _had_ seen that expression before, long ago, because, on top of his dad, over his shoulders, a small child was perched, one hand clutching his dad’s hair, the other poking his eye. How old was he? One? Two?

Damn. Colt had to laugh. It was a good thing he thinned out. In the picture, his legs still had rolls of baby fat, surrounding his dad’s neck, pudgy stomach resting against his dad’s head.

His dad was clutching his ankles, securing him, fingers wrapped tight around him, cradling him, keeping him close. Almost as if he were precious. Almost as if he were loved.

Once his breath returned, once he stared at the picture for long enough, enough time to memorize the smile on his dad’s face, the tilt of his head, line of his jaw, he checked the box again. And again. And once more. This was the only picture. In his dad’s life,  _this_ was the one image he wanted to save, safe here, locked away at the bank. Now, it might be the only image Colt had, the only image saved from the inferno, an image from a different time.

He held it, considered dropping it back in for safekeeping but, every time his fingers moved to throw it in the box, he just couldn’t do it. Now that he had an actual, physical memento of his father’s love for him, he couldn’t let it go.

He stood, legs shaking, grabbing his wallet and carefully, gently, slid the picture in. Everything else, the money, the ring, the paperwork, everything else was flung back in the box, haphazardly, box shut with a creak and a slam. He could come back for anything he needed.

He got more than he wanted anyway.


End file.
